I actually made a card today but I want to post these 5 swap cards first. The little girl on the embossed card is adorable, isn't she? She is from a stamp set called Greeting Card Kids. There are 4 different images in this set and the kids are all so cute! The card was made by Annie Buchanan, didn't she do a great job with all the embossing, inking and glitter?

Next to that cute card is an adorable tag using the irresistible gingerbread man from the Got Treats stamp set. Linda Cathey made this tag with the Two Tags die and embossed it with the new Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing folder. That's going to be on my next order, along with the Northern Frost die that has lots of snowflakes on it. This die strip has 8 different snowflakes on it, won't it be great for Christmas and Winter crafting and scrap booking?

The cute little snowman card was made by Brenda Rodgers. He is from the Jolly Old Saint Nick stamp set. She stamped him in Night of Navy ink and then sponged ink around the edges of the white card stock. The sentiment is stamped in Whisper White craft ink and punched out using the new Decorative Label punch. I really like that punch, it's a great size for sentiments and smaller images. You will probably be seeing it a lot.

This cute tea cup card was made by Pam Vandever. I looks like a quick and easy card but isn't it beautiful! That sweet little polka-dot tea cup is a single stamp called Tiny Teacup and is only $5.95. The polka-dot embossing folder makes the perfect background for the card.

The last card was made by Mary Robinson using the new Paisley Prints stamp set and Paisley Party wheel. It is a great Fall card but the stamp set includes not only leaves and a pumpkin, it has a Christmas Tree and 2 sizes of hearts. I love when a stamp set is versatile!

Don't forget that today is the last day of the Summer Mini catalog so if there is something you need, time is short. I'm going to be sending in an order tonight because I need some of that Island Oasis paper and the ship stamp!

Owl Punch Card

I got the Owl Punch in a shipment a couple of weeks ago and have been wanting to have time to play with it. I finally got a chance last night and put a couple of the cute guys together. I used the Island Oasis Designer Series Paper and Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie and More Mustard card stock to create my card. Also a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Verses stamp set and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch. I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with both of these punches.

I'm going to miss the Island Oasis paper. It is beautiful and fun at the same time. I need to buy a pack before the Summer Mini Catalog ends Tuesday. What do you still want out of the Summer Mini Catalog? You better get it ordered quickly!

Team Meeting swaps

I am always amazed at the talent of Stampin' Up demonstrators when we do swaps. I get some amazing cards and great ideas for classes and workshops. The swaps Tuesday night at the Team Meeting was no different. Look at these great cards!

Our theme for the swaps was the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog so you are getting a great sneak peek at some of the new stamps. The first card on the left is absolutely gorgeous! I love it's simplicity of design that has some wonderful texture to make it a total wow card. The creator didn't put her name on the back though so I don't know who made it. It uses a set called Bells and Boughs stamped on the Deck The Halls Designer Series Paper. Using a base of Cherry Cobbler paper embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder makes this card have a very rich look. Cherry Cobbler is definitely my favorite red ever!

Second is another beautiful card made by J. Jones. She used Real Red for the base and Crumb Cake layered on top of it for a nice neutral touch. Her main image is from a set called Tags Till Christmas, a wonderful set of 9 stamps which all match punches to make creating quick cards a snap. I love being able to just punch the image out and attach it! She also made a nice background paper using the Baroque Motifs stamp set. One of my favorites from the regular catalog.

Third is a card using the Delightful Decorations stamp set was shared by Sue Erickson. The Riding Hood Red background cardstock is embossed with the texture plates and the ornaments are "hung" with a piece of Linen Thread. Another quick and beautiful card.

In the next picture are 3 more great Christmas cards. The first one uses a stamp set from the regular Idea Book and Catalog, one of my favorites, Season of Joy. The artist didn't put her info on the back so I don't know who created this pretty card. What a great color combination Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive make for a Christmas card!

The second card made by Earlene uses the wonderful Cherry Cobbler for a background and the Snow Swirled stamp set for it's main image. A little ink stippled around the main tree image gives this card a nice finish along with some Dazzling Diamonds. Dazzling Diamonds is such a fine, sparkly glitter that it should be an accent on nearly all Christmas cards!

The third card is a beauty from Julie Salva, my upline. The Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler are a great combination for Christmas cards. She also used the new 1/2" Seam Binding to accent her card and the Christmas set we got at Convention, Peaceful Season. This is a free set, you can get it for being a hostess between Sept 1 and Jan 3.

I have some more swap cards to share but I reckon 6 is enough for now. Instead of showing what is coming up in the new mini catalog I should be letting you know that there are only

4 days left to order from the Summer Mini Catalog. I guess that and the fact that leaves are falling off the trees in my yard mean that Summer 2010 is nearly over. I feel the need to go jump in the river one last time!

Do you need anything from the Summer Mini before it's gone? I just realized today that I need the Sentimental Journey stamp set. I'm going on a cruise! The set has a ship in it but I didn't know I would be going on the cruise when the catalog came out so, even though I considered buying the set since I really like it, I hadn't ordered it. Now I HAVE to order it! I also need another pack of the Island Oasis DSP to make my cruise album with. As excited as I am to create this album, I know when I am putting pictures in it the cruise will be over so it will be bittersweet.

Stampin' Up Team Meeting

I went to a Stampin' Up team meeting in Nashville on Tuesday night and we learned a lot of new techniques and made 6 great projects. We also had a swap and I was very happy with the cards I got.

The first picture shows 3 of the projects we made. All projects were made with stamps and supplies from the new Holiday Mini Catalog that will begin on Sept 1st. First is one of the way cute mini lunch bags, embossed with the new Spider Web embossing folder. Isn't it adorable! These are going to make such great treat bags for lots of different occasions.

Next to the mini lunch bag is a Halloween card using the Wicked Cool stamp set and paper. If you look closely you will see what a nice accent the new Raven Lace Trim is. The other card is a great Fall card using the French Foliage stamp set. It looks like it is made with a pretty Fall leaf patterned paper but the background is stamped card stock. I really like that stamp set. The card also uses the new Extra Large Decorative Label punch.

The second picture shows the Christmas projects we made. There are 2 tags on each side, I'm definitely planning to teach some tag classes the next couple of months. The first tag uses the wonderful Gold Waffle Paper. It is a great touch, gathered above and below the stamped image. I can't wait to find other ways to use this unique paper.

The Christmas card in the middle is made using the Candy Cane Christmas Designer paper. It is hard to tell from the picture but the red stripes are glittery. It is such beautiful paper! Notice the Silver Tinsel Trim on the card too? It is a very unique and beautiful trim. The other tag is made on one of the tags from the Two Tags die. It is stamped with the cute little snowman stamp from the Jolly Old Saint Nick set. One of the stamps in that set reminds me of the Santa head that mom used to hang on the front door every year.

After making all these projects I'm getting excited about all the Halloween and Christmas projects I can make. We had a card making event today to make cards for the soldiers and we made all Christmas cards. I'm going to be thinking it is supposed to be December if I keep working on Christmas projects! I'm pretty excited about the holiday mini catalog. It has so many great stamp sets and many other great products to use to make your holidays more special.

Angie's Workshop

I did a workshop at Angie's home today (Hi Angie!) and it was a lot of fun. There were 7 ladies there and we did 2 projects and visited and ate watermelon, grapes, strawberries and chocolate. Angie is a wonderful hostess and a sweet person. Here are the projects we made:

First, I showed them how to ink up their stamp and then add some texture and dimension to the coloring using a slightly darker marker over the image. Then they embossed their card front with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, like me, they all loved the texture they got when they used the embossing folders. After layering the image on a piece of Old Olive cardstock and tying a piece of ribbon around it we mounted it to the embossed card. This beautiful card was a CASE of a swap I got at convention from Sylvie Drader who is from Ontario Canada.

I showed them a "stepped-up" version of the card that has individual little flowers stamped and cut out and mounted to the large hydrangea with Stampin' Dimensionals as well as a vellum butterfly cut with the Beautiful Wings die and three of the new Basic Pearls for his body. Some of them were happy with their original card but a few of them were willing to go for it and cut out those tiny little flowers!

We also made some bookmarks using the Two Tags die. It was cut from a folded piece of More Mustard cardstock so it would fit over both sides of the page to stay in place more securely. We even put a little magnet at the bottom on the front and back to make extra sure we won't loose our places in our favorite books. I enjoyed seeing the different designs the ladies came up with for their bookmarks. I reckon I should have taken pictures of them all!

Don't forget my Christmas Card class Monday and Tuesday. My first Christmas Card Class of this season will be a special low rate of $10 for 10 cards! Get a start on your Christmas cards early.

Christmas Card Class for August

I have 2 Christmas Card classes next week. I reckon that if we have a class a month between now and Christmas and you make 10 at each class that will be 50 cards you will have ready to send out! How's that for planning ahead??

One class is Monday, Aug 30 at 7PM and the other is Tuesday, Aug 31 at 10AM. We will make 2 each of 5 cards. Here is a picture of the 5 cards we will make.

You will get to try out a lot of techniques and new products in this class. I hope you will be able to make it one of the 2 times! Let me know, wrightplace4@mindspring.com

Also, don't forget the scrapbook layout class this Friday at 2, I think you will enjoy this class.

Beautiful card and Incredible wedding card holder

I got this beautiful card yesterday from Tina Taves. I love the Old Olive/Rich Razzleberry color combination. Very pretty. She used the Watercolor Trio stamp set, a set in the Summer Mini Catalog that will only be available until August 31st. If you want something from that catalog, be sure to get with me soon. August (and Summer) will be over so soon!


Also, I want to share an incredible project I saw on Corinne Somerville's Blog today. She made a wedding cake from paper to hold the cards her daughter got at her wedding. It is amazingly beautiful with over 150 paper roses on it! I just thought you would like to see this gorgeous creation.

Well, I reckon the title is nearly as long as the blog post today. Some days are like that. I have grapes waiting for my attention . . .

Sneek Peek!

I should be posting pictures of projects you can make with stamp sets and paper from the current catalog or the Summer Mini Catalog that expires in about 2 1/2 weeks but I've been so excited about the goodies the UPS man has been delivering to my door that I just wanted to share a few of them, a sneak peek! The main Holidays featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog are Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day. Beware! My wish list from this mini catalog is about the same length as the one from the big catalog! I love the new papers and stamp sets and there are so many wonderful new embelishments and punches and dies!

First, here is what the Holiday Mini Catalog looks like. Be sure to contact me if you need one. wrightplace4@mindspring.com Did you notice the fabric? Yes, Stampin' Up is featuring fabric in this new catalog! They have 2 sets, the one shown on the front of the mini and the one shown in this first picture of the Christmas goodies I have ordered so far. One thing I have noticed about the fabrics is that they aren't totally Christmas and Christmas only. You can use them for lots of different occasions. I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet, probably a Scalloped Square die cut purse but I will have lots of scraps left over to use on cards and scrapbook pages. I used to use torn strips of fabric on scrapbook pages a lot but haven't done that in several years. Expect to see that look again VERY soon!

Other things to note in the picture of Christmas products, isn't that paper georgous! AND, it matches the fabric! Won't it be fun to have coordinating paper and fabric to do your Christmas projects this year? Did you see the extra-sparkly Glass Glitter? It is going to give amazing sparkle to your projects! They have 2 colors, this one is Champaigne and the other one is Silver.

Did you also notice that the XL Decorative Label Punch can be used to punch out 2 of the labels in the Tags Till Christmas stamp set to the right? I love when there is a punch to make it easier to create great cards and pages. I used this punch for the August layout class too. I'm also loving the XL circle punch - 2 1/2"! I've been wanting a larger circle punch for a long time and this is going to be perfect for so many things.

On to the Halloween picture, again, georgous paper that will be fun to create with. This paper is actually from the big catalog but I wanted to show it with the other Halloween things I have. The "Wicked Fun" paper pack has 2 sheets of flocked paper. If you notice the back of each page has a design that isn't strictly Halloween so you can use your scraps all year for other projects. I noticed that last year with the Halloween paper so I was glad it is the same this year. I really like the chandelier paper on the back of the orange Spooky one.

The Wicked Cool stamp set is also from the regular catalog. There is that fun chandelier again :~) Since it is almost September I will be stamping with this set very soon. The other stamp set is called Paisley Prints, one of the sets we got at the Stampin' Up convention. I like how it has Fall, Christmas and Valentine's Day all together in one set. The wheel is the matching Paisley Party wheel. It will go with all the seasons, just roll it in a different color to match!

One of my favorite things in the Halloween line-up is the Spider Web Embossing Folder. It is going to be fun to create with that. And the black lace is very pretty, delicate but spooky at the same time. It will look great on Halloween projects but will also work for many of your Christmas projects too.

I'm planning to have a Christmas card class every month until Christmas. The one for August will be on the 31st at 10AM or 7PM. We will make 10 cards, 2 each of 5 designs. The class will be $10 or free with a $25 order.

The other classes I have left in August are a scrapbook class next Friday, the 27th at 2PM. A picture of the layout is on my August 13th post. We will be learning to make the beautiful ribbon roses for this layout. Email me to sign up for any of the classes: wrightplace4@mindspring.com I hope I'll see you at a class soon!

A Great Gift and 2 Cards from friends

I wanted to find some time to create something with goodies I got from Stampin' Up yesterday but with so many apples to put up today it just didn't happen. So I remembered there was a great project I got at the Stampin' Up convention that I hadn't shared with you yet.

When people are at the convention they usually make their roommates or the friends going with them a little gift. Well, as much as I had to do the last couple of weeks before I left I didn't get anything made for the ladies going from the Stampin' Sister's team so I bought them one of my favorite books, "The Christmas List" by Richard Paul Evans. I think it is the last book I read cover to cover. It is a wonderful book that really makes you think.

They got me a very much needed large bag I could carry all my swaps and stuff in along with a bag tag, very pretty flower pin and an adorable metal box that had a note pad, matching pen and pad of post-it notes in it as well as a couple of magnets to hold things to the lid of the box. Very cool. I'll have to include a class in my schedule the next couple of months for these. They will make great Christmas presents!

The box uses the Circle Circus stamp set stamped in fun, bright colors. The magnets inside are covered with cardstock that is stamped and covered with Crystal Effects to make them shiny and durable.

Mary and Pam are always more on the ball than I am. OK, pretty much EVERYONE is more on the ball than I am! Anyway, they have both sent me cards since we got home from convention to say thanks for the book and mentioning how much fun we had at convention. Ever the procrastinator, I haven't even started my cards yet . . .

Here are the cards they sent, Mary's used a new stamp that was available in the Memento Mall at convention. I like the way she punched it with the scalloped circle punch and layered it with the red circle. Pam's card is very cool the way she used 3 different embossing folders in 3 different colors. I love the color combination. Thanks girls!

Color

I wanted to post pictures from a class I took called "Color Crazy". It was the night before I left for the Stampin' Up Convention and I just haven't gotten around to posting the pictures of the 20 cards we made in the class. Each picture of 4 cards are all made from the same stamp set. There are lots of styles and techniques on these sets of cards and, although they use the same stamp set, they are definitely each unique.

It is kind of strange how things work out sometimes. I was thinking about posting the cards from the color class and saw Stacy Julian on Scrapbook Memories today and she did a little bit about color. I thought I would post as much as I could get of it today with the pictures fromm the class. Sometimes we get stressed out about colors so I liked what she said:

"I started teaching about color in scrapbooking over 10 years ago. Back then it was all about identifying the colors in your photos and then matching them to cardstocks and stickers. We taught from the color wheel and felt especially smart if we could throw around terms like value, intensity and tertiary. I'm happy to say that today, things are much easier. Our view of color has matured and our approach is much friendlier. It's about recognizing the colors you love and using those colors to bring emotion and meaning to your memories. Are there new rules we need to know? Just this, if you like it, it's going to work."

(still quoting) "I like to find a color combination that I think is pretty like in a piece of fabric. Then I go to my cardstock and find colors that feel the same, they aren't necessiarily the same colors but they bring about the same feeling as that combination. Then I challenge myself to make or create 2 or 3 scrapbook pages using that same combination. And I play with how much of each color I use, or the porportion. A layout can look youthful and cheerful by downplaying the gray and using more yellow and green. For a more sophisticated, urban feel you would want to use more of the gray. You know how they say "Practice makes perfect"? I want to update that for you. It's really "Playing makes perfect. When you can sit down with your photos and play with color that you love and color that feels good, you're going to come away a happier person and scrapbooking is going to make you happier." Stacy Julian

So, don't stress out too much about colors but definitely use a color wheel or go to a site like My Create Ink to help you if you aren't sure.